Government unveils Canada's pot plan

Covering everything from retail sales to possession guidelines and totalling 106 pages, the federal government’s final report on marijuana legalization in Canada was released today.

The report comes after the nine-member legalization task force heard from all levels of government across the country, as well as patients, advocates, Indigenous governments and representative organizations, employers and industry.

In addition, an online public consultation on the topic generated almost 30,000 submissions.

Broken down into sections, the report detailed a number of recommendations, across a variety of categories.

Minimizing harm

A number of steps to reduce potentially harmful effects or circumstances were outlined in the report. They include:

Setting a national minimum age of purchase of 18, acknowledging the right of provinces and territories to harmonize it with their minimum age of purchase of alcohol.

Applying comprehensive restrictions to the advertising and promotion of cannabis and related merchandise by any means, including sponsorship, endorsements and branding, similar to the restrictions on promotion of tobacco products.

Allow limited promotion in areas accessible by adults, similar to those restrictions under the Tobacco Act.

Requiring all cannabis products to include labels identifying levels of THC and CBD